December 17, 2023 (Sunday)
What a difference a day makes. Yesterday was sunny and unseasonably warm, today not so much. A large storm i heading its way to New England. On this day I decided to get ready for Christmas and write this journal entry.
FOMO
I was in Cape Cod when my kids told me that I had a case of FOMO. It stands for “Fear of missing out”. I was lamenting not being able to participate in every activity that they had planned. It happened again yesterday. I received an email telling me that they missed me at the monthly Dunn State Park music jam. This is one of my favorite venues. The jams are held in the visitors center which overlooks a pond. It has a fireplace and great acoustics. I hadn’t marked it on my calendar. I have the FOMO blues.
Green Center Cameras
The Green Center was open on Saturday, the last “shopping” day of the year. I stopped in to say hello and browse around. I found two point and shoot cameras. I don’t need another camera but I was curious to see if they still worked. They were similar in size and specs to my very first digital camera, a Canon A80 that I bought in 2004. That one cost me almost $200. Times have changed, nobody wanted these.
It is easy to see why these are becoming obsolete. The Sony uses a “Memory Stick Duo Pro” card instead of the more common SD cards. It also has a proprietary USB connector. The Nikon has a USB plug which is different than the dozen other ones I own. It is easy to see why people use their phones to take photos. I was not deterred by these setbacks. A USB cable and Memory Stick adapter were fairly cheap, so I ordered them. My two “free” cameras now have a cost. We’ll see how they fare in the coming weeks.
Clean Water
I’m happy I cleaned the gunk and algae from the bird bath yesterday. The bluebirds were around all day drinking clean water.
Daily Picture Theme – #Rescue
I served with the Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 1 during the Vietnam War. The mission was search and rescue for downed pilots during flight operations from carriers. Frank Chupko and I lived on the beach in Imperial Beach, California until it came our time to deploy to Vietnam. I was on the aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard and Frank was on the USS Oriskany. Frank was a rescue crewman and I was a technician. Because we were on different ships I didn’t learn until much later that Frank was involved in a sea rescue. It was quite the feat. This is the account.
HC-1, NAS Imperial Beach, Calif., recently recorded its 1400th personnel rescue when four members of Detachment Six plucked a downed fighter pilot from waters off the coast of California The crew members were conducting "plane guard" operations near the USS Oriskany when Lt Harlan W. Wood- ward, helo pilot, received word that an A-7 had crashed on deck and the pilot had ejected into the ocean. Lieutenant Woodward with his co-pilot, Lt(jg) John E. Culbertson, were dispatched to the area where ATN3 Frank T. Chupko entered the choppy water and removed the pilot from the folds and shrouds of his parachute. Rescue efforts were hampered by the pilot's broken arm and dislocated shoulder. As the two were being hoisted aboard the helicopter, Chupko felt the pilot slipping out of the sling and wrapped his legs around the man's waist. In this position he was unable to assist the hoist operator, AMH3 Frank W. Dudek. Chupko dangled outside of the UH-2C aircraft with the clinging pilot for the two and one-half mile trip back to the carrier deck. The operation, which was the first actual rescue for the two enlisted men, marks the squadron's 1400th personnel rescue, of which over 225 were accomplished off the coast of Vietnam. For their efforts, all of the crewmembers have been recommended for letters of commendation by the Commanding Officer of the USS Oriskany. Two nights later the same two crewmen were flying in a helicopter piloted by Lt's Thomas H. Epting, Jr., and Michael T. Bugelski, when another pilot ejected near the ship. The experience gained from the previous rescue was obviously a help to the crewmen during the second mission. Working quickly and efficiently, they plucked the survivor from the water and he was returned to the Oriskany within 13 minutes after his ejection.
